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4th out of 46 books
—
25 voters
Learning from Las Vegas: The Forgotten Symbolism of Architectural Form
"Their insight and analysis, reasoned back through the history of style and symbolism and forward to the recognition of a new kind of building that responds directly to speed, mobility, the superhighway and changing life styles, is the kind of art history and theory that is rarely produced. The rapid evolution of modern architecture from Le Corbusier to Brazil to Miami to...more
Paperback, Revised, 208 pages
Published
June 15th 1977
by MIT Press
(first published 1972)
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Venturi has undoubtedly become the black sheep of late twentieth-century architecture. This book is part of the reason why. It's a rather bold, almost crass statement about the askew focus of Modern architecture. He compares Rome to Las Vegas, not to mention the fact that he introduced postmodern irony into architectural perspectives, which the classicists and the moderns probably weren't too thrilled about. His symbolical relativism more or less diminishes every formal masterpiece ever construc...more
the course i reference in my review of HJ Kunstler's "The Geography of Nowhere" is the same course in which this text was taught. but since the course was a mere 1.0 credit and there wasn't a lot of time to discuss all of the texts, we mostly looked at this book and it's pictures.
which brings me to the great part about this book: there are a lot of pictures and a large assortment of type. there are blueprints, photographs, diagrams, drawings, diagrams imposed on drawings, post-cards on top of st...more
which brings me to the great part about this book: there are a lot of pictures and a large assortment of type. there are blueprints, photographs, diagrams, drawings, diagrams imposed on drawings, post-cards on top of st...more
I'm not an architect or an architecture student so I was unfamiliar with much of the vernacular and some of the concepts were over my head. I had to read this book for a theory class and, while I'm not familiar with architecture, it was a well-written book full of interesting theories. It definitely makes me look at buildings and signs differently.
A brilliant primary text that any student of architecture should immediately read, it will inform you and set you on a path of learning at the highest level. Venturi's practice - Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates - and their approach to design is world-leading and this book demonstrates the clarity of thought and intelligence they apply to this pursuit.
Although Learning from Las Vegas is 37+ years old, much of the theory holds relevant. Venturi and folks criticism of modern buildings relates to much of what is still being created today. Bearers of the sustainable design flag could learn something from reading this book and applying ideas about vernacular, ornament, and decorated sheds to all fields of production and industry.
Recommended to me by some brainy, overanalytical grad student in college, it is nonetheless a fine and relevant book for any student of design or resident of this vapid commercial strip we call America.
Truly brilliant and epochal theory/criticism from a guy who, in the end, like so many brilliant theoreticians, turned out to be a crap architect himself.
An excellent interpretive jumpstart for the scores of urban-vetted visiting LA who say, I just don't get it. We don't have a Brooklyn Bridge or iconic harbor or subway line running through Old Town, but there is a character that identifies itself as a city. A drive of aspiration runs rampant.
Venturi and Scott Brown give voice to the underlying (commercial) forces that defy architectural/urban uniformity but very much infiltrate the landscape, tangibly, pervasively, a way of reevaluating the eme...more
Venturi and Scott Brown give voice to the underlying (commercial) forces that defy architectural/urban uniformity but very much infiltrate the landscape, tangibly, pervasively, a way of reevaluating the eme...more
I've wanted to read this since college.
ok
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It would be a 3.5 if half stars existed. The book is more fun than required reading. I saw it at a conference recently, having heard the authors a few years ago speak about the impact the book has had as well as the struggles the authors had writing it.
Overall the idea is interesting, looking at Vegas as a metaphor for post WWII design and planning. The book has some great illustrations of signage and massing of buildings, which translate well. Overall it was a good afternoon read.
Overall the idea is interesting, looking at Vegas as a metaphor for post WWII design and planning. The book has some great illustrations of signage and massing of buildings, which translate well. Overall it was a good afternoon read.
"Architectural theories of the short run tend toward the idealization and generalization of expediency. Architecture for the long run requires creation, rather than adaptation, and response to advanced technology and sophisticated organization ...Although architects have not wished to recognize it, most architectural problems are of the expedient type, and the more architects become involved in social problems, the more this is true." -p.129
Quality. For an architectural theory book it's top notch. I've never been to Vegas myself, but after reading this, I think my experience would be somewhat colored. It's amazing how few people even realize what Vegas represents. How ignorant and selfish has society become? Even if architectural symbolism isn't your thing, this will open your eyes to how our society has evolved around the automobile.
"When Modern architects righteously abandoned ornament on buildings, they unconsciously designed buildings that were ornament. [...] It is all right to decorate construction but never construct decoration" (163).
Provocative stuff, and intensely relevant to graphic design, but I still couldn't give you a comprehensible definition of a "duck".
Provocative stuff, and intensely relevant to graphic design, but I still couldn't give you a comprehensible definition of a "duck".
Check if your local library has the 1972 edition designed by Muriel Cooper. It's a breath-taking piece of graphic design, a million times better than the choppy, prosaic and misguided 1977 revision. It's bold, but the fitting structure for a now monumental classic on anti-monumentalism.
I'm not too fond of post-modernism, but this book is one of the best criticisms I've read about modern architecture. The way Venturi understands popular things is quite interesting. Definetely worth reading.
Didn't care for the academic tone and a lot of the history/theory went over my head, but it's worth it for the appreciation of vernacular and the Duck v. Decorated Shed distinction.
interesting for its cultural implications but also rather dry and at times straight up boring / not interesting. but then again, i'm no architect so perhaps that's why it fails to appeal?
A must have for those who are critics of the urban landscape in America. This book is a must read.
The unofficial handbook of postmodern architectural (and non-architectural) thought.
Apr 22, 2008
Jimmy
is currently reading it
a classic, although i guess it's widely seen as outdated...but i think i'm into it.
totally fascinating chronicle of architectural development in l.v.
Venturi represent!
Classic design study.
funny
May 17, 2013
jw468
marked it as to-read
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Aug 05, 2009 12:37pm
Aug 05, 2009 01:01pm